Short Interest in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Rises By 15.5%

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,400,000 shares, an increase of 15.5% from the May 31st total of 3,810,000 shares. Currently, 10.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 485,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 9.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCOI has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Cogent Communications from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Cogent Communications from $84.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Bank of America downgraded Cogent Communications from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $85.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Cogent Communications from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on Cogent Communications from $88.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.14.

Insider Transactions at Cogent Communications

In other news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 50,000 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total transaction of $2,972,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,553,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $270,632,578.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 50,000 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total value of $2,972,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,553,038 shares in the company, valued at $270,632,578.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 2,400 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.60, for a total value of $126,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 93,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,907,580. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 178,440 shares of company stock valued at $9,828,016. 11.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cogent Communications

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CCOI. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cogent Communications by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 218,174 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,594,000 after purchasing an additional 24,185 shares in the last quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC raised its holdings in Cogent Communications by 175.1% during the fourth quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC now owns 37,599 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,860,000 after purchasing an additional 23,934 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Cogent Communications by 46.6% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 828,664 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $63,028,000 after purchasing an additional 263,276 shares in the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Cogent Communications by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 482,532 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,701,000 after purchasing an additional 67,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its holdings in Cogent Communications by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 88,263 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

CCOI opened at $56.44 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $58.37 and its 200-day moving average is $66.95. The stock has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a PE ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80. Cogent Communications has a twelve month low of $50.80 and a twelve month high of $86.00.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The technology company reported ($1.29) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.10) by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $266.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $274.13 million. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 114.09% and a negative return on equity of 24.63%. On average, analysts predict that Cogent Communications will post -4.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.975 per share. This represents a $3.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a boost from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.97. Cogent Communications’s payout ratio is 15.45%.

Cogent Communications Company Profile

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides high-speed Internet access, private network, and data center colocation space services in North America, Europe, Oceania, South America, and Africa. The company offers on-net Internet access and private network services to law firms, financial services firms, and advertising and marketing firms, as well as heath care providers, educational institutions and other professional services businesses, other Internet service providers, telephone companies, cable television companies, web hosting companies, media service providers, mobile phone operators, content delivery network companies, and commercial content and application service providers.